A new Bill will ensure the special education needs of children have to be met as a matter of legal right, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, said yesterday.
Publishing the Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill, Dr Woods said it adopted a "rights based" approach to education, using a mediation and appeals system to give children the services they needed.
He said the Bill was being published in "white form" so that everyone interested in education could debate the proposals.
The bill would enable "the parents of children with disabilities to enforce the right to education through a dedicated mediation and appeals system and, ultimately, if necessary, through the courts".
He added: "This legislation will copperfasten their rights which, up to now, have been available as an administrative arrangement."
The main provisions of the Bill are:
It defines a child as a person who is not less than three or older than 18 years of age, but allows for earlier intervention if necessary.
A child with special educational needs will be educated in an integrated setting, unless this is not in the child's interests.
Where a child appears to have a learning difficulty he or she will be entitled to an assessment by appropriate professionals.
Each child is to be registered with the National Council for Special Education. Registration can occur from birth.
Each registered child will have an individual education plan prepared for him or her either by the school which the child is attending or the council. The plan will set out the child's educational needs, the special education services to be provided and the goals which the child is to achieve over a period of not more than a year.
Provision is made for regular review and amendment of this plan.
Parents will have a right in law to involvement in decisions concerning their child's educational needs.
A system of mediation and appeals will allow parents to have all significant decisions concerning their child's education with which they do not agree submitted to independent review.
The Minister for Education will have a statutory duty to set national policy and provide necessary resources.
The education of adults with special educational needs is provided for. For example, in deciding on the most appropriate provision to be made for an adult, the council and the relevant health board will liaise closely.
"At the end of the school year in which a child reaches his or her 18th birthday, he or she will remain on in school for another school year if this is considered the most beneficial course or will transfer to an education or training setting appropriate for an adult," Dr Woods said.